Maps for Copenhagen
​
2012 - 2015
Trampoline House, Copenhagen, DK.
Self-organized project consisting of workshops, field trips and guidebook.
Concept and coordination is made with Signe Rom. 

//mapsforcopenhagen.com
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Article / Visavis
Article / Geoforum Perspektiv

The guidebook.

​Maps for Copenhagen is an investigation into aspects of temporality, belonging, public space, cartography and how you can start to interact with a new city, across barriers like language, different cultural backgrounds and not having much money in the bank.

Since 2012, Signe and I have been engaged in the Trampoline House, a culture house in Copenhagen for asylum seekers, migrants, and everyone else. Here 
we have organized different activities and gathered knowledge about the city together with a large group of people, most of whom we met in the house. Dialogues and collective mappings have been central tools.

We have asked questions like: what does Copenhagen look like, when you have just arrived? How do you find your way around? What places in the city do you like and what places would you recommend to others? Where do you go to meet new friends? And how do you use the city with out much money in your pocket?

In December 2014 we presented the first guidebook to Copenhagen in both Danish, English and Arabic. The book represents knowledge about the city, advice and shared experiences that have arisen in the process of its creation. 
The guidebook contains 10 thematic chapters, each chapter with a city map made by an artist. The guidebook essentially provides tips and guidance to free or effortdable places.

The project is in many ways a reaction to the Danish asylum system, where people live in camps away from the city centre for years, are not allowed to work, and have very little money to get by on. It is a system that creates isolation and poverty. We are interested in how, people despite this framework,people still can start interacting with the city and its possibilities. Showing that good experiences are also possible, even in the middle of a challenging and potentially traumatic period.

The guidebook is available for free in the Trampoline House. It can also be bought at the Museum of Copenhagen / -1 at Den Frie and STET in Lisbon. Each time we sell a book, we will make a new one, which will be freely available at the Trampoline House.

​Featuring artworks by: Annette Skov, Bonnie Fortune, Emma Smith, Lucia Merlo, Maj Horn, Nermin Durakovic, Nikolas Theilgaard, Paula Bulling, Parul Modha, Sara Grønborg, Søren Assenholt and Vladimir Tomic.
​Graphic design: Eller med a.

​Translators: Ali Ali, Shams Hashim Alfadal, Natasha Hogan. 

Financial support:
Nørrebro Lokaludvalg, Interkulturelt Center (IKC), Grosserer L. F. Foghts Fond and BUPL.

​Maps for Copenhagen, er en undersøgelse af hvem byen er til for, og hvordan man kan tage den i brug, på tværs af barriere som sprog, kultur og penge i banken. Projektet har base i Trampolinhuset, et brugerdrevet kulturhus, som tilbyder aktiviteter og netværk for asylansøgere. 

Signe og jeg har siden sensommeren 2012 arrangeret workshops, dialogmøder og ture rundt i byen, med en stor gruppe af Trampolinhusets brugere, med det formål at opbygge et vidensarkiv, omkring brug af offentlige rum og navnlig hvordan man kan bruge byen uden penge. Som asylansøger lever man i gennemsnit for 1.500 kr. om måneden, derfor er de steder der er med, helt essentielt, gratis eller meget billige. Projektet tager form som en bog og hjemmeside, som både er på dansk, engelsk og arabisk. Guiden er lavet ud fra et ønske om at tale i et poetisk og legende sprog, til en gruppe af mennesker, der holdes fast i et system, der ikke taler meget til de menneskelige aspekter. Samtidigt ønsker vi at fortælle de ufortalte historier om byen og belyse den store kreativitet, der skal til for at tage byen til sig, fra en marginal position. 

Guidebogen indeholder 10 tematiske bykort, hvert kort er udformet af en billedkunstner. I kortene, og de tilhørende indekser, gives der bud på spørgsmål som; ”hvor i København går man hen for at møde nye venner?”, ”hvor kan man få billig eller gratis mad og kaffe?” og ”hvor i byen er der mest solskin?”.

Kortlægninger af kunstnerne: Annette Skov, Bonnie Fortune, Emma Smith, Lucia Merlo, Maj Horn, Nermin Durakovic, Nikolas Theilgaard, Paula Bulling, Parul Modha, Sara Grønborg, Søren Assenholt og Vladimir Tomic. 

​Oversættere: Ali Ali, Shams Hashim Alfadal, Natasha Hogan.

Financiering:
Nørrebro Lokaludvalg, Interkulturelt Center - IKC, Grosserer L. F. Foghts Fond og BUPL Solodaritets fonden.